“Cloud storage” – whether we call it that in our everyday conversation or not – is spreading like wildfire for both personal and business uses. In the office, almost every workflow involves working with files or documents, and passing them between employees through digital means. At home, we love to share photos with friends and family, or make sure that we have access to our files from a variety of computers and mobile devices. We’re always moving, we’re wearing many hats on any given day, and we want our digital content to come with us.

We’ve been working very closely with Box to bring a brand new experience to BlackBerry® 10 – deep integration with the cloud storage solution on many levels, right out of the box (no pun intended). From Documents To Go®, photos, videos, and more, you’ll be able to hit a “Share” button that includes social networks, messaging, and cloud storage services like Box. Additionally, you’ll have the ability to browse and interact with your Box folder from within the File Manager application. We caught up with the Box team at BlackBerry® Jam Americas 2012 to learn more – check out the video below for the full scoop!

Box functionality is integrated on many levels with the platform. We believe that it’s important to have quick and integrated access to the services that you use rather than having to close and open apps to get things done. It’s all part of the flow of BlackBerry 10.

Do you use cloud storage solutions? How will mobile integration with these types of services improve the experience for you? Share in the comments below.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/10/box-integration-blackberry-10-cloud-storage/feed/0lukereim1box-logoBox Integration with BlackBerry 10BlackBerry 10 Business App Roundup from BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-business-app-roundup/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-business-app-roundup/#respondFri, 28 Sep 2012 17:53:06 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=8543/ Read More]]>At BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012 developers from all over the world came together to learn, share, and build. Beyond the fantastic flow and experience that BlackBerry 10 will provide, we’re also focusing on apps – and today, business apps! We all love apps that allow us to be more productive, take care of life’s tasks quickly and intuitively, connect us to the world, and that provide a delightful user experience.

One of my favorite parts of this year’s conference was the showcasing of upcoming apps as we approach the launch of BlackBerry 10. Let’s take a look at a few of the apps that are on their way:

Cisco WebEx Meetings

Cisco is developing an application for BlackBerry 10 that will extend the famous Cisco WebEx collaboration technology to the platform, allowing you to collaborate and share content with colleagues. When connecting a BlackBerry 10 device to a monitor or projector via micro-HDMI output, this becomes fantastic technology for powering a collaborative mobile office.

Box

Cloud storage and enterprise collaboration are integrated right out of the box with BlackBerry 10. You’ll have the ability to share photos, documents, and media right up to your Box account from within the platform. Additionally, you can browse and manage your Box folder from within the File Manager application.

SAP Applications

The ability to access and interact with the latest data available is key when making important business decisions. SAP has been busy prototyping these applications, integrating with existing SAP systems in order to mobilize the workforce with the latest information. With the use of the latest development approaches, these work seamlessly on the BlackBerry 10 platform, and also on the BlackBerry PlayBook as well as BlackBerry smartphones. Check out the live demonstration of SAP applications on the BlackBerry PlayBook tablet from one of the BlackBerry Jam events this past year.

Splashtop

Desktop virtualization has always been a favorite of mine, and Splashtop® does it in a way that works great, and is very easy to set up and use. They have been giving a peek of the app running on the Dev Alpha device using the BlackBerry 10 OS, and it looks great. With the power and connectivity of the BlackBerry 10 phones, Splashtop gives you your full desktop computer in your pocket. Check out our interview with the Splashtop team to learn more!

There are many more app announcements that have been made, and that will be coming over the next few months. Stay tuned here on the BlackBerry for Business blog to catch all of the latest!

What apps are you most excited about so far? Share in the comments below.

With things winding down here at BlackBerry® Jam Americas 2012, it’s time to wrap up the week and it has definitely been a busy one on the Inside BlackBerry blog family. Donny, Luke and I all agree: It has been one fantastic week here in San Jose. We saw new BlackBerry 10 announcements, great workshops, new tooling, partner demos and even a music video tribute. We were here capturing all the action as it happened. Check out our BlackBerry Jam Americas wrap video. Listen to what the attendees wanted to share and you’ll see what an awesome vibe the show had.

Thanks for tuning in to another great BlackBerry Jam event, keep it locked to the Inside BlackBerry blogs for more details on upcoming BlackBerry Jam events in Europe and Asia, the new BlackBerry Jam for Enterprise events and of course all your official BlackBerry 10 news.

Did you join us at BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012, or catch all the action from home? Give us a shout out in the comments below.

When considering a mobile computing platform, concepts like connectivity, access to information on multiple devices, and maximizing functionality are paramount. Nothing embodies these and enables a mobile office like remote desktop access. With over 8 million users worldwide, Splashtop® is one of the leading providers of remote desktop access for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Here at BlackBerry® Jam Americas 2012 in San Jose, we’ve been able to catch up with Splashtop to learn more about their exciting plans for BlackBerry® 10. I caught up with Victor Chin of Splashtop to chat about the upcoming app and what the future holds. Check out the interview below for all of the details:

Biz Blog: Hi Victor, tell me about your role at Splashtop and what the company is all about.

I am the Director of Program Management at Splashtop. Splashtop is about improving your productivity, especially in this mobile era. Our goal is to enable any device to any device connectivity. We hope to empower our users while being un-tethered. Mobile is becoming more and more an integral part of our daily lives because we are able to do more without having to be in front of a computer.

We’ve heard the exciting news that you’re developing an app for BlackBerry 10. Can you share a few of the main features and functionality?

Yes, we started with Splashtop for the BlackBerry PlayBook and are now adding support for BlackBerry 10. The effort required to support Blackberry 10 has been minimal. For the most part our PlayBook application was able to run on the BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device; most of our effort was spent designing and coding to support the smaller screen size. Our Splashtop app provides Blackberry users with the ability to connect and control a Windows or Mac system from their BlackBerry PlayBook or BlackBerry 10 device, bringing BlackBerry users the power of their PC in their hand.

How was the development experience working with the BlackBerry 10 SDK’s?

Our experience has been very good. We reviewed the different options, and BlackBerry provided the ability to quickly get an application built. For instance, we were looking at using the Android tool to convert from an Android app into a BlackBerry app due to the quick turnaround time. However, we decided to use the Native SDK to get the most performance for our remote desktop app. I believe many of our reviewers appreciate this. Even with the Native SDK, the effort has been minimal to add BlackBerry 10 support after having developed for the PlayBook.

Do you see remote desktop access changing the way that mobile workers operate?

Yes, BlackBerry and the current PlayBook app are providing our users with the ability to be more productive while being mobile. They can have the power of a desktop while travelling with only a Playbook or Blackberry 10 device. Not only is there great productivity, but it is secure as well. No data is stored on the device; all of your data remains on your host system. So, if the BlackBerry device is lost or stolen, there is no data to worry about being compromised. We see this as a win-win solution.

What does Splashtop have planned for the future?

Splashtop continues to work on improving performance. We are dedicated to providing our users with the best in class performance. In addition, we continue to listen to our users and understand their use cases so we can enhance their experience with our Splashtop app and potentially other apps in the future.

Thanks for joining me today, Victor!

While devices like tablets are making the mobile office even more of a reality, apps and software like Splashtop create a thriving ecosystem of available functionality that extends to smartphones. Consider the vision of an office powered by BlackBerry 10; HDMI output at 1080p into an HD monitor, a Bluetooth®-connected keyboard and mouse, and remote desktop access to give you a full desktop experience. Add to this the unparalleled security of the BlackBerry infrastructure, protection of corporate data, and simple access to VPN profiles and corporate networks, and you can begin to grasp the future of mobility.

Do you use remote desktop apps in your work? How will you use Splashtop for BlackBerry 10 smartphones? Share in the comments below.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/remote-desktop-access-blackberry-10-splashtop/feed/0lukereim1splashtop-logoCisco WebEx Meetings Coming to BlackBerry 10: Interview with the Cisco Team at BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012 [VIDEO]http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/cisco-webex-blackberry-10/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/cisco-webex-blackberry-10/#respondWed, 26 Sep 2012 16:36:09 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=8560/ Read More]]>If you caught the BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012 keynote yesterday morning, you’ll have seen the fantastic app demo of Cisco® WebEx Meetings running on a BlackBerry 10 Dev Alpha device. The app will bring the Cisco™ WebEx collaboration, conferencing, and screen sharing capabilities that so many organizations rely on to BlackBerry 10 devices at their launch in Q1 of 2013. I caught up with Mark Gervase of the Cisco team to chat about the upcoming app and what it means to take collaboration even further into a mobile environment. Check out the video below for the full scoop:

The Cisco WebEx Meetings app for BlackBerry 10 not only extends Cisco WebEx functionality to a mobile computing platform; it also embodies the flow, speed, and simplicity of the BlackBerry 10 experience. A few of the features include the ability to have the conference bridge call your phone to connect, and full screen sharing on the high resolution screen of your BlackBerry 10 device.

Do you use Cisco WebEx in your work? Are you looking forward to using it on the go with a BlackBerry 10 device? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

Nothing quite parallels the experience of being part of a keynote crowd as an event kicks off. Today in San Jose, California, RIM CEO Thorsten Heins took the stage to greet the BlackBerry developer community that has gathered here from around the world to participate in something very exciting – having a hand in preparing for the upcoming BlackBerry® 10 platform. The flow of ideas, passion for the platform, and drive to succeed is in full display at a BlackBerry developer conference.

As shared initially in the BlackBerry World 2012 keynote in May, it’s all about the flow. When you interact with a BlackBerry 10 device, this concept is immediately clear in the way that you have the ability to speed through the tasks you need to get done, gaining access to what you need to see, edit, and share in an instant. Check out the video below from today’s keynote for a demonstration of the flow of BlackBerry 10:

For enterprise customers, Thorsten was excited to share the work that’s in progress to consolidate and unify our enterprise mobility management portfolio. BlackBerry Enterprise Service 10 will provide a unified console for managing BlackBerry, iOS®, and Android™ smartphones and tablets. IT managers will have the best solution for managing their complete mobile infrastructure and for ensuring that corporate data is protected, all from a single solution.

Exciting partnerships bring incredible mobile services and apps to the BlackBerry 10 platform – both for work and for play. From cloud storage integration with Box to screen sharing with Cisco® WebEx™ and remote desktop access with Splashtop®, the apps will enable rich mobile interactions. And here at BlackBerry Jam Americas, alongside the BlackBerry developer community, we’re watching it happen before our eyes.

What was the most exciting aspect of the BlackBerry Jam Americas 2012 keynote to you? Share in the comments below.

]]>http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-jam-americas-thorsten-keynote/feed/0lukereim1BBJamAmericas12_GeneralSession_IMG_2606-w600PartnersHow to add corporate email, calendar, and contacts to a BlackBerry 10 smartphone in simple stepshttp://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-enterprise-activation/
http://bizblog.blackberry.com/2012/09/blackberry-10-enterprise-activation/#respondTue, 25 Sep 2012 16:48:44 +0000http://bizblog.blackberry.com/?p=8545/ Read More]]>I’d like to share a BlackBerry® 10 experience that will make it simple and intuitive to add your work email account to your BlackBerry 10 smartphone. The process of adding smartphones or tablets into the fold of mobile device management should be straightforward for both IT administrators and employees. Our work in streamlining business mobility with BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 extends to the BlackBerry 10 platform with the process for enterprise activation. It’s straightforward; requiring just an email address, a one-time activation password, and an email account password. Whether a personal account or a work account, email is setup the same way with the BlackBerry Infrastructure helping to provide the server settings required. For a work account BlackBerry Balance immediately divides the device into work and personal spaces. The one-time activation password can be created by administrators, or set by end users via self-service tools. Check out the video below for the full scoop!

Whether your BlackBerry 10 smartphone is provided by an organization or brought in as a personal device, neither party needs to compromise on security or privacy. The BlackBerry Hub provides access to both work and personal email and social feeds, and a quick swipe down on the home screen allows for switching between work and personal spaces.

With the process for adding work email, calendar, and contacts to your smartphone becoming so straightforward with BlackBerry 10, would you be more likely to use your personal device for work? Share your thoughts in the comments below.